The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle #2) 5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Tombs of Atuan
Series: Earthsea Cycle #2
Author: Ursula LeGuin
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy / Middle Grade
Pages: 117
Words: 46K
Publish: 1971

Another wonderful coming of age story that is so different from A Wizard of Earthsea and yet tells a story that I love.

Most of the time, when an author tells a completely different tale in a series, I have issues with it. I usually want more of the same, more of the familiar, more of what I enjoyed in the previous book. Thankfully, LeGuin’s skill is such that she can change everything and yet keep the essentials that I loved and thus make me love this new creation.

The characters, the land and the perspective have all changed but what didn’t change was the style. We still get the world building with just a few brief sentences. Whole histories are conveyed in less than a paragraph. Peoples’ characters fleshed out with the perfectly chosen word. Simplicity is still LeGuin’s choice here and it continues to work very well. While the story appears to be about Tennar the young girl, it is just as much about the Ring of Erreth Akbe, which when the broken pieces are found and united, will bring peace to the land. It takes real skill to be able to tell both stories at the same time without one overshadowing the other.

I am also very happy that Tennar’s story ends on a happy note. She has left everything behind her, going to a new land, to a people she doesn’t know, with a man who has told her he can’t stay with her, but she will be given protection and teaching by Ogion the wizard and have wealth should she want it. The blackness of LeGuin’s soul hadn’t yet destroyed everything good…

I was hoping to showcase the cover for the first edition, which was another woodcut style drawing, but sadly, every version I could find had this huge “Award” on it, since it won several childrens’ awards. So I’m choosing to go with the Bantam Spectra cover from the mid 80’s. This was the copy my local library had I believe. I’m going to include the covers for each book because I want a complete collection and I have zero idea what I’ll showcase for the next book’s cover.

★★★★★

From Wikipedia

The story follows a girl named Tenar, born on the Kargish island of Atuan. Born on the day that the high priestess of the Tombs of Atuan died, she is believed to be her reincarnation. Tenar is taken from her family when she was five years old and goes to the Tombs.[14] Her name is taken from her in a ceremony, and she is referred to as "Arha", or the "eaten one",[24] after being consecrated to the service of the "Nameless Ones" at the age of six with a ceremony involving a symbolic sacrifice.[28] She moves into her own tiny house, and is given a eunuch servant, Manan, with whom she develops a bond of affection.

Arha's childhood and youth are lonely; her only friends are Manan and Penthe, a priestess her own age. She is trained in her duties by Thar and Kossil, the priestesses of the two other major deities. Thar tells her of the undertomb and the labyrinth beneath the Tombs, teaching her how to find her way around them. She tells of the treasure hidden within the labyrinth, which wizards from the archipelago have tried to steal. When Arha asks about the wizards, Thar tells her that they are unbelievers who can work magic. When she turns fourteen, Arha assumes all the responsibilities of her position, becoming the highest ranked priestess in the Tombs. She is required to order the death of prisoners sent to the Tombs by the God-King of the Kargad lands; she has them killed by starvation, an act which haunts her for a long time. After Thar dies of old age, Arha becomes increasingly isolated: although stern, Thar had been fair to her. Kossil despises Arha and sees the Nameless Ones as a threat to her power.

Arha's routine is disrupted by her discovery of the wizard Ged (the protagonist of A Wizard of Earthsea) in the undertomb. She traps him in the labyrinth by slamming the door on him, and through a peephole sees him unsuccessfully attempt to open the door with a spell.[29] Trapped in the labyrinth, Ged eventually collapses out of exhaustion, and Arha has him chained up while debating what to do with him. After questioning him, she learns that he has come to the Tombs for the long-lost half of the ring of Erreth-Akbe, a magical talisman broken centuries before, necessary for peace in Earthsea.[14] The other half had come into his possession by pure chance, and a dragon later told him what it was. Arha is drawn to him as he tells her of the outside world, and keeps him prisoner in the tombs, bringing him food and water.[30] However, Kossil learns of Ged's existence, forcing Arha to promise that Ged will be sacrificed to the Nameless Ones; however, she realizes that she cannot go through with it. She instructs Manan to dig a false grave underground, while she herself takes Ged to hide in the treasury of the Tombs.

Arha and Kossil have a public falling out, in which Kossil says that nobody believes in the Nameless Ones anymore. In response, Arha curses her in the name of the Nameless Ones. Realizing that Kossil will now be determined to kill her, she heads to the labyrinth and sees Kossil uncovering the false grave. Evading her, Arha goes to the treasury and confesses everything to Ged, who has found the other half of Erreth-Akbe's ring in the treasury. He tells Arha that she must either kill him or escape with him, and says that the Nameless Ones demand her service, but give nothing and create nothing in return. He tells her his true name, Ged, in return for the trust she has shown him. They escape together, though Manan, who has come looking for Arha, falls into a pit in the labyrinth and is killed when he attempts to attack Ged. The tombs begin to collapse in on themselves; Ged holds them off until they leave. Arha reverts to calling herself Tenar as she and Ged travel to the coast where his boat is hidden. While waiting for the tide, she feels an urge to kill Ged for destroying her life, but realizes while gazing at him that she has no anger left. Ged and Tenar sail to Havnor, where they are received in triumph.

The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #1) 5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Dragonbone Chair
Series: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #1
Author: Tad Williams
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 824
Words: 288K
Publish: 1988

Ahhhhh, this was good. Williams was pushing the page count for epic fantasy while Sanderson was still scarfing down peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches. This is yet another of those books I grew up on and am still enjoying re-reading.

I had forgotten just how vexing and whiny Simon (the main character) starts out as. He’s a 14 or 15 year old boy who is a daydreamer and man, I wanted to slap him so many times. The good thing is that he doesn’t automagically just “change” and become a Gary Stu. He has some horrible experiences and you can see him growing through those experiences. He doesn’t become another person, he slowly changes. Williams knows how to write characters and it is a joy to watch.

There was so much detail I had forgotten since I last read this in 2011 that it “almost” felt like a new book. I like that feeling of knowing the general outline of the story (which is comforting to me) and mixing it with that new feeling (which is exciting). Having them both at the same time is just great. When I was done with the book I seriously considered just writing a review consisting of “I loved this!” with a synopsis from Wikipedia. And really, if you parse down everything I’ve said so far, that’s the essence here :-)

Not everything by Williams connects with me. But when it does, it’s electric. I never even noticed how long the page count was until I started this review. I just knew I was enjoying the story the entire 800+ pages and it never dragged or was “world build’y” to pad things out. That’s success in my books!

The main reason I am reading this Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy again is because Williams has recently finished up a sequel series, “Last King of Osten Ard”. I want to read that but am concerned that I will need a recent read of MST to know what’s going on. Considering how well this went, I don’t think that is going to be a problem at all!

★★★★★

From Fandom.com

For eons the Hayholt belonged to the immortal Sithi, but they had fled the great castle before the onslaught of Mankind. Men have long ruled this greatest of strongholds, and the rest of Osten Ard as well. Prester John, High King of all the nations of men, is its most recent master; after an early life of triumph and glory, he has presided over decades of peace from his skeletal throne, the Dragonbone Chair.

Simon, an awkward fourteen year old, is one of the Hayholt's scullions. His parents are dead, his only real family the chamber maids and their stern mistress, Rachel the Dragon. When Simon can escape his kitchen-work he steals away to the cluttered chambers of Doctor Morgenes, the castle's eccentric scholar. When the old man invites Simon to be his apprentice, the youth is overjoyed - until he discovers that Morgenes prefers teaching reading and writing to magic.

Soon ancient King John dies, so Elias, the older of the two sons, prepares to take the throne. Josua, Elias' somber brother, nicknamed Lackhand because of a disfiguring wound, argues harshly with the king-to-be about Pryrates, the ill-reputed priest who is one of Elias' closest advisers. The brothers' feud is a cloud of foreboding over castle and country.

Elias' reign as king starts well, but a drought comes and plague strikes several of the nations of Osten Ard. Soon outlaws roam the roads and people begin to vanish from isolated villages. The order of things is breaking down, and the king's subjects are losing confidence in his rule, but nothing seems to bother the monarch or his friends. As rumblings of discontent begin to be heard throughout the kingdom, Elias' brother Josua disappears - to plot rebellion, some say.

Elias' misrule upsets many, including Duke Isgrimnur of Rimmersgard and Count Eolair, an emissary from the western country of Hernystir. Even King Elias' own daughter Miriamele is uneasy, especially about the scarlet-robed Pryrates, her father's trusted adviser.

Meanwhile Simon is muddling along as Morgenes' helper. The two become fast friends despite Simon's mooncalf nature and the doctor's refusal to teach him anything resembling magic. During one of his meanderings through the secret byways of the labyrinthine Hayholt, Simon discovers a secret passage and is almost captured there by Pryrates. Eluding the priest, he enters a hidden underground chamber and finds Josua, who is being held captive for use in some terrible ritual planned by Pryrates. Simon fetches Doctor Morgenes and the two of them free Josua and take him to the doctor's chambers, where Josua is sent to freedom down a tunnel that leads beneath the ancient castle. Then, as Morgenes is sending off messenger birds bearing news of what has happened to mysterious friends, Pryrates and the king's guard come to arrest the doctor and Simon. Morgenes is killed fighting Pryrates, but his sacrifice allows Simon to escape into the tunnel.

Half-maddened, Simon makes his way through the midnight corridors beneath the castle, which contain the runes of the old Sithi palace. He surfaces in the graveyard beyond the town wall, then is lured by the light of a bonfire. He witnesses a weird scene: Pryrates and King Elias engaged in a ritual with black-robed, white-faced creatures. The pale things give Elias a strange gray sword of disturbing power, named Sorrow. Simon flees.

Life in the wilderness on the edge of the great forest Aldheorte is miserable, and weeks later Simon is nearly dead from hunger and exhaustion, but still far away from his destination, Josua's northern keep at Naglimund. Going to a forest cot to beg, he finds a strange being caught in a trap - one of the Sithi, a race thought to be mythical, or at least long-vanished. The cotsman returns, but before he can kill the helpless Sitha, Simon strikes him down. The Sitha, once freed, stops only long enough to fire a white arrow at Simon, then disappears. A new voice tells Simon to take the white arrow, that it is a Sithi gift.

The dwarfish newcomer is a troll named Binabik, who rides a great gray wolf. He tells Simon he was only passing by, but now he will accompany the boy to Naglimund. Simon and Binabik endure many adventures and strange events on the way to Naglimund: they come to realize that they have fallen afoul of a threat greater than merely a king and his counselor deprived of their prisoner. At last, when they find themselves pursued by unearthly white hounds who wear the brand of Stormspike, a mountain of evil reputation in the far north, they are forced to head for the shelter of Geloe's forest house, taking with them a pair of travelers they have rescued from the hounds. Geloe, a blunt-spoken forest woman with a reputation as a witch, confers with them and agrees that somehow the ancient Norns, embittered relatives of the Sithi, have become embroiled in the fate of Prester John's kingdom.

Pursuers human and otherwise threaten them on their journey to Naglimund. After Binabik is shot with an arrow, Simon and one of the rescued travelers, a servant girl, must struggle on through the forest. They are attacked by a shaggy giant and saved only by the appearance of Josua's hunting party.

The prince brings them to Naglimund, where Binabik's wounds are cared for, and where it is confirmed that Simon has stumbled into a terrifying swirl of events. Elias is coming soon to besiege Josua's castle. Simon's serving-girl companion was Princess Miriamele traveling in disguise, fleeing her father, whom she fears has gone mad under Pryrates' influence. From all over the north and elsewhere, frightened people are flocking to Naglimund and Josua, their last protection against a mad king.

Then, as the prince and others discuss the coming battle, a strange old Rimmersman named Jarnauga appears in the council's meeting hall. He is a member of the League of the Scroll, a circle of scholars and initiates of which Morgenes and Binabik's master were both part, and he brings more grim news. Their enemy, he says, is not just Elias: the king is receiving aid from Ineluki the Storm King, who had once been a prince of the Sithi - but who has been dead for five centuries, and whose bodiless spirit now rules the Norns of Stormspike Mountain, pale relatives of the banished Sithi.

It was the terrible magic of the gray sword Sorrow that caused Ineluki's death - that, and mankind's attack on Sithi. The League of the Scroll believes that Sorrow has been given to Elias as the first step in some incomprehensible plan of revenge, a plan that will bring the earth beneath the heel of the undead Storm king. The only hope comes from a prophetic poem that seems to suggest that "three swords" might help turn back Ineluki's powerful magic.

One of the swords is the Storm King's Sorrow, already in the hands of their enemy, King Elias. Another is the Rimmersgard blade Minneyar, which was also once at the Hayholt, but whose whereabouts are now unknown. The third is Thorn, black sword of King John's greatest knight, Sir Camaris. Jarnauga and others think they have traced it to a location in the frozen north. On this slim hope, Josua sends Binabik, Simon, and several soldiers off in search of Thorn, even as Naglimund prepares for siege.

Others are affected by the growing crisis. Princess Miriamele, frustrated by her uncle Josua's attempts to protect her, escapes Naglimund in disguise, accompanied by the mysterious monk Cadrach. She hopes to make her way to southern Nabban and plead with her relatives there to aid Josua. Old Duke Isgrimnur, at Josua's urging, disguises his own very recognizable features and follows after to rescue her. Tiamak, a swamp-dwelling Wrannaman scholar, receives a strange message from his old mentor Morgenes that tells of bad times coming and hints that Tiamak has a part to play. Maegwin, a daughter of the king of Hernystir, watches helplessly as her own family and country are drawn into a whirlpool of war by the treachery of High King Elias.

Simon and Binabik and their company are ambushed by Ingen Jegger, huntsman of Stormspike, and his servants. They are saved only the reappearance of the Sitha Jiriki, whom Simon had saved from the cotsman's trap. When he learns of their quest, Jiriki decides to accompany them to Urmsheim mountain, legendary abode of one of the great dragons, in search of Thorn.

By the time Simon and the others reach the mountain, King Elias has brought his besieging army to Josua's castle at Naglimund, and though the first attacks are repulsed, the defenders suffer great losses. At last Elias' forces seem to retreat and give up the siege, but before the stronghold's inhabitants can celebrate, a weird storm appears on the northern horizon, bearing down on Naglimund. The storm is the cloak under which Ineluki's own horrifying army of Norns and giants travels, and when the Red Hand, the Storm King's chief servants, thrown down Naglimund's gates, a terrible slaughter begins. Josua and a few other manage to flee the ruin of the castle. Before escaping into the great forest, Prince Josua curses Elias for his conscienceless bargain with the Storm King and swears that he will take their father's crown back.

Simon and his companions climb Urmsheim, coming through great dangers to discover the Uduntree, a titanic frozen waterfall. There they find Thorn in a tomblike cave. Before they can take the sword and make their escape, Ingen Jegger appears once more attacks with his troop of soldiers. The battle awakens Igjarjuk, the white dragon, who has been slumbering for years beneath the ice. Many on both sides are killed. Simon alone is left standing, trapped on the edge of a cliff; as the ice-worm bears down upon him, he lifts Thorn and swings it. The dragon's scalding black blood spurts over him as he is struck senseless.

Simon awakens in a cave on the troll mountain of Yiquanuc. Jiriki and Haestan, an Erkynlandish soldier, nurse him to health. Thorn has been rescued from Urmsheim, but Binabik is being held prisoner by his own people, along with Sludig the Rimmersman, under sentence of death. Simon himself has been scarred by the dragon's blood and a wide swath of his hair has turned white. Jiriki names him "Snowlock" and tells Simon that, for good or for evil, he has been irrevocably marked.

• Dragonbone Chair (2002 Review)

• Dragonbone Chair (2011 Review)

Monster Hunter Guardian (MHI #8) 4Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Monster Hunter Guardian
Series: MHI #8
Author: Larry Correia & Sarah Hoyt
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 313
Words: 119K
Publish: 2019

I re-read this and THEN read my review from 2020 (link at the end of the post).

The only thing I would really change this time around is that I didn’t notice the “emotional” side of things like I did then. No idea why, but I never even noticed it and hadn’t remembered that aspect at all until I re-read my old review.

A marathon of a story about a mother saving her kidnapped son first from a demon who wants to auction him off to other demons and then second, from her own mother who is a superpowerful vampire. The action is almost non-stop and I loved it.

When I read this in 2020 I gave serious though to searching out Sarah Hoyt’s other works and seeing how her stuff compared to this collaboration. Unfortunately, most of her stuff seemed to be ongoing, abandoned or, according to reviews, “have that romance vibe”. Yeah, no thanks to all three of those. So I never investigated any more of her works and I’m still ok with that decision five years later.

★★★★☆

From MHI.Fandom.com & Bookstooge

While Owen and the other Monster Hunters are off in Russia fighting the big baddies, Julie (Own’s wife and former Shackleford) is in charge of running the skeleton crew of MHI. She’s also taking care of her dying grandfather and her newborn son.

She has a recruitment possibility but it goes sideways and turns out to be just a lure so a malevolent being can kill her grandfather and kidnap her son. Brother Death then contacts Julie and says he’ll trade her son for a powerful artifact he knows Julie is guarding, even though she told MHI it was destroyed. She reluctantly agrees but creates a backup plan to recover the item and her son if Brother Death double crosses her. He does. Julie ends up in Germany alone and with almost no weapons. She tracks down the group of cultists who took possession of the artifact only to find out that the kidnapping of her son and artifact were unrelated. In the process of recovering the artifact, Julie breaks about a bajillion german laws and the german version of MCB makes MCB look like a kind and benevolent grandfather.

Julie goes on the run. With the help of Management (the last dragon in existence), she finds a man who is a European Monster Advocate. She needs his help to track down a monster known for kidnapping children, who will hopefully then lead her to Brother Death. Turns out the Monster Advocate was killed years ago and his body taken over by the child killer monster. Julie kills it and lets Management into its computer system. This gets her an invite to an auction that Mr Death is holding, with her son being the main item on the agenda.

Julie heads out with a lawyer from Management. At the auction she becomes aware that her mother is there and wants Julie’s son to raise as her own (Julie’s mom is a nutjob of a super vampire). The auction goes bad and Julie shoots her way out. She rescues her son only to see him taken from her by her mother. With the lawyer’s help she escapes Brother Death.

Julie tracks her mom down and calls all the dregs of MHI to assault the mansion, along with the local branch of government monster hunters. They succeed against all odds and Julie has her son back. She also finds out that MHI is back from the Island.

With help from Owen and some of the other MHI Crew Julie finds out Brother Death’s real name and uses that to kill him. During all of this her Guardian marks have grown and she finds out that as the marks grow, her humanity will shrink until she ceases to be human. At which point she will become a monster herself.

• Monster Hunter Guardian (2020 Review)

• All of My “MHI” Reviews

Lord of the Isles (Lord of the Isles #1) 4Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Lord of the Isles
Series: Lord of the Isles #1
Author: David Drake
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 681
Words: 199K
Publish: 1997

Ahhh, the 90’s. A mythic time when everybody and their brother was writing an Epic Fantasy series so big, so fantastic that it was sure to top the book charts and become immortalized forever. Jordan, Martin, Goodkind, Erikson, Weiss & Hickman, Cook and Williams, just to name the authors that spring to my mind. Us fantasy fans ate it up with a spoon and asked for more! Authors like David Drake took up the challenge and churned out their own epics, which nobody would remember, nor, in all honesty, should they.

The strength of the Lord of the Isles series was that Drake turned them out every 12-18 months. He wrote a total of nine books from 1997 to 2008 and he finished up the story. He gave us what we wanted and we got our fix almost every year, like the junkies we were. Bloody magical mayhem with main characters punching their way through a maelstrom of demons and otherworldly monsters. It was fantastic.

The weakness of the Lord of the Isles series was that Drake turned them out every 12-18 months. The action was fast and furious, but the characters were about as deep as cardboard. Stock, cliched phrases defined who the characters were. They weren’t people, they were tropes.

When I first read Lord of the Isles (the book, not the entire series) in ‘97, I loved it so much that my brother gave me his hardcover copy for my birthday. I was happy as a clam. As each book came out I enjoyed them even while realizing how shallow they were. I got my magical mayhem fix and that was all I was looking for. Once Drake had finished the Lord of the Isles series, he began another unrelated series and I realized he was writing almost the same story with pieces just moved around and I gave up on him. I had not recorded or reviewed that I had read the first three books in the Lord of the Isles series so in 2012-2013 I remedied that but stopped after book three as I then had all nine books in the series recorded.

Which brings us to 2025. I am always looking for books and series to re-read (you can see some of my reasoning in my old post “Why I re-read” from 2018) and I remembered how much I had enjoyed Lord of the Isles and so the whole series went into the tbr rotation. I also remember how wooden Drake made his characters though, so I decided to break the series up by interspersing it with the Dracule Files. I’d read three of the Dracula books, then three of the Lord of the Isles books, then Dracula, rinse and repeat. That gave me a break and I vaguely remembered the nine books being broken up, story wise, into three trilogies, so that would work out well too. Which FINALLY brings us to the actual review of this specific book.

I usually compare books to food. I haven’t done that in a while and I’m not going to do it here either. But I have found that I like to compare the books I read to other things that I have an emotional resonance with or against, depending on the book in question. This time I’m going to compare it to a music album I came across years ago. Gregorian: The Dark Side of the Chant. I’d say the album cover describes it well enough. It also describes this book.

There are six main characters who all meet in a small village, go their separate ways, have an unending stream of world shaking adventures and then come back together to have the biggest adventure of all. Then it is revealed that that was just the tip of the iceberg, so stay turned for the next book!

We get everything from cannibal eskimos to humanoid insectivores to slime liches to parasitic demon trees to literal demons and boy howdy, do our characters mow through them like they are on a rocket powered lawn mower.

The weakness I talked about before are all here, in smaller doses so for this book it isn’t intolerable. But it is why this will never get more than 4stars from me and I suspect that after this series re-read that I will not consider re-reading it again. I did debate about even re-reading the entire series after finishing this one book, but that streak of masochism I have buried deep inside of me decided to show up and so I’ll be reading the whole series, no matter how much I suffer. Much like the read of Neuromancer, this will be A Project and not just a read. But it shouldn’t be a hate read as I plan on ringing every drop of enjoyment out of the series that I can :-D Magical mayhem and demon guts all over the place has a special spot in my hard little grinchy heart, hahahahaa.

★★★★☆

From the Publisher

Into this world, as the wellsprings of magical power rise to a millennial height, a sorceress from a thousand years past is cast upon the shore of a small island. She has survived the cataclysm that destroyed the powerful empire of the Isles in her time. She finds herself in a small town far from the new centers of power, but among a small group who, all unknowing, will become the focus of a new struggle for dominance and magical power that will shake this world, and others.

For The Hooded One, the most powerful sorcerer of all time, has also survived the ancient catastrophe he created. The peace of the small village is destroyed in an instant, and the young principles must set out on a quest to meet their destiny.

• Lord of the Isles (2013 Review)

A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #1) 5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: A Wizard of Earthsea
Series: Earthsea Cycle #1
Author: Ursula LeGuin
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy / Middle Grade
Pages: 123
Words: 61K
Publish: 1968

This is one of those books that I’ve read since childhood. My first memory is reading the first couple of chapters in a fantasy anthology when I was still in my single digits. I have no idea what that anthology was but I suspect it was a collection of chapters from full books to whet the interest of the readers. If I cared more, I could probably track it down, but I don’t care enough, not this year anyway.

I loved this book as a kid, I loved this book as a teen, I loved this book in my 20’s, I loved this book in my 30’s and now, I’m loving it just as much in my 40’s.

Now, I don’t know how this would go over with me if I was approaching this for the first time, but I have a feeling I’d still love this. This is a coming of age story about a young man who grievously screws up and then has to take responsibility for that mess and fix it.

LeGuin writes an entire world with just a sentence. A hint here, a brushstroke there and and the world of Ea comes to life. I know I am always going on about writers who aren’t wordsmiths but my goodness, when I see an author being an AUTHOR, it just brings joy to my heart. It also brings rage when other people don’t appreciate that, kind of like a food connoisseur sneering at people who think a Big Mac from McDonalds is the height of food goodness. It has its place, but it is NOT good food. I will wear my Book Snob badge proud and loud!

★★★★★

From Wikipedia

Earthsea itself is an archipelago, or group of islands. In the fictional history of this world, the islands were raised from the ocean by a being called Segoy. The world is inhabited by both humans and dragons, and most or all humans have some innate magical gift, some are more gifted sorcerers or wizards.[18] The world is shown as being based on a delicate balance, which most of its inhabitants are aware of, but which is disrupted by somebody in each of the original trilogy of novels.[19] Earthsea is pre-industrial and has diverse cultures within the widespread archipelago. Most of the characters are of the Hardic peoples, who are dark-skinned, and who populate most of the islands.[20] Four large eastern islands are inhabited by the white-skinned Kargish people, who despise magic and see the Hardic folk as evil sorcerers: the Kargs, in turn, are viewed by the Hardic people as barbarians. The far western regions of the archipelago are the realm of the dragons.[20]

Plot summary

"Only in silence the word,
only in dark the light,
only in dying life:
bright the hawk's flight
on the empty sky."

From the Creation of Éa, with which A Wizard of Earthsea begins.[21][22]

The novel follows a young boy called Duny, nicknamed "Sparrowhawk", born on the island of Gont. Discovering that the boy has great innate power, his aunt, a witch, teaches him the little magic she knows.[15] When his village is attacked by Kargish raiders, Duny summons a fog to conceal the village and its inhabitants, enabling the residents to drive off the Kargs.[16] Hearing of this, the powerful mage Ogion takes him as an apprentice, and later gives him his "true name"—Ged.[15] Ogion tries to teach Ged about the "equilibrium", the concept that magic can upset the natural order of the world if used improperly. In an attempt to impress a girl, however, Ged searches Ogion's spell books and inadvertently summons a strange shadow, which has to be banished by Ogion. Sensing Ged's eagerness to act and impatience with his slow teaching methods, Ogion asks if he would rather go to the renowned school for wizards on the island of Roke. Ged loves Ogion, but decides to go to the school.

At the school, Ged meets Jasper, and is immediately on bad terms with him. He is befriended by an older student named Vetch, but generally remains aloof from anyone else. Ged's skills inspire admiration from teachers and students alike. He finds a small creature—an otak, named Hoeg, and keeps it as a pet. During a festival, Jasper acts condescendingly towards Ged, provoking the latter's proud nature. Ged challenges him to a duel of magic,[16] and casts a powerful spell intended to raise the spirit of a legendary dead woman. The spell goes awry and instead releases a shadow creature, which attacks him and scars his face. The Archmage Nemmerle drives the shadow away, but at the cost of his life.[15][20]

Ged spends many months healing before resuming his studies. The new Archmage, Gensher, describes the shadow as an ancient evil that wishes to possess Ged, and warns him that the creature has no name. Ged eventually graduates and receives his wizard's staff.[16] He then takes up residence in the Ninety Isles, providing the poor villagers protection from the dragons that have seized and taken up residence on the nearby island of Pendor, but discovers that he is still being sought by the shadow. Knowing that he cannot guard against both threats at the same time, he sails to Pendor and gambles his life on a guess of the adult dragon's true name. When he is proved right, the dragon offers to tell him the name of the shadow, but Ged instead extracts a promise that the dragon and his offspring will never threaten the archipelago.

Chased by the shadow, Ged flees to Osskil, having heard of the stone of the Terrenon. He is attacked by the shadow, and barely escapes into the Court of Terrenon. Serret, the lady of the castle, and the same girl that Ged had tried to impress, shows him the stone, and urges Ged to speak to it, claiming it can give him limitless knowledge and power. Recognizing that the stone harbors one of the Old Powers—ancient, powerful, malevolent beings—Ged refuses. He flees and is pursued by the stone's minions, but transforms into a swift falcon and escapes as Serret, having taken the form of a gull, is killed. Ged also loses his otak to the shadow.

Ged flies back to Ogion on Gont. Unlike Gensher, Ogion insists that all creatures have a name and advises Ged to confront the shadow.[16] Ogion is proved right; when Ged seeks out the shadow, it flees from him. Ged pursues it in a small sailboat, until it lures him into a fog where the boat is wrecked on a reef. Ged recovers with the help of an elderly couple marooned on a small island since they were children; the woman gives Ged part of a broken bracelet as a gift. Ged patches his boat and resumes his pursuit of the creature into the East Reach. On the island of Iffish, he meets his friend Vetch, who insists on joining him.[20] They journey east far beyond the last known lands before they finally come upon the shadow. Naming it with his own name, Ged merges with it and joyfully tells Vetch he is healed and whole.

• A Wizard of Earthsea (2005 Review)

• A Wizard of Earthsea (2012 Review)

Monster Hunter Files (MHI #7) 4Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Monster Hunter Files
Series: MHI #7
Author: Larry Correia
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 300
Words: 117K
Publish: 2017

When I originally read this back in ‘17, I gave it 4stars. I was hoping that maybe I could inch this up a halfstar, but sadly, the Jane Yellowrock story ("She Bitch, Killer of Kits") still kept that from happening, again. I just dislike Jane Yellowrock, period. I did skip the John Ringo story, as it was just a chapter from the final Monster Hunter Memoirs book and I’ve since read that trilogy.

When I went to read this, this time, I saw Schmidt’s name on the cover and thought “huh, that name sounds familiar”. Turns out he had compiled and edited a couple of Predator collections that I had read, namely Eyes of the Demon and If It Bleeds. Eyes was just a horrible collection of modern writers who didn’t know diddly squat about the Predators and Schmidt should have been ashamed of himself for allowing such a collection. That is the reason he’s not getting a spot in the “Authors” part of the info block from me this time around. He’s a dink.

And on to the positive.

I think that A Knight of the Enchanted Forest was once again my favorite story. I never thought about dipping pepperoni pizza in ranch dressing before this story and to be honest, while it does sound yummy (in an excess kind of way), I still haven’t worked up the courage to actually try it. Maybe 2025 will be the year! (actually, make that exclamation point a question mark, I’m still not brave enough)

Mr Natural by Jody Nye was the story about a group of hippies who raised a demon that enhanced nature, but at the cost of human sacrifice. That was the story that I talked about shooting hippies and commies and ended up getting in trouble in a group over on Librarything about it. Ahhh, good memories, that’s what that is :-)

"Huffman Strikes Back" was a surprise, in a good way. Of course, it was coauthored by The Dink, so I’m giving ALL the credit to the co-author, Julie Frost. This story was about the brother of the werewolf that Owen Zastava Pitt (the main character in the MHI series) threw out of a skyscraper in the first book. Huffman was just as insane and twisted as his brother. He was also just as petty and small minded. It was good to see him get his!

Another good re-read in the MHI universe and I am happy to report that the series is holding strong. Onward!

★★★★☆

Publishers Blurb and Table of Contents

For well over a century, Monster Hunter International has kept the world safe from supernatural threats small and large—and in some cases very, very large. Now, join us as MHI opens their archives for the first time. From experienced Hunters on their toughest cases, to total newbies' initial encounters with the supernatural, The Monster Hunter Files reveals the secret history of the world's most elite monster fighting force.

Discover what happened when Agent Franks took on the Nazis in World War Two. Uncover how the Vatican’s Combat Exorcists deal with Old Ones in Mexico. And find out exactly what takes place in a turf war between trailer park elves and gnomes. From the most powerful of mystical beings to MHI’s humble janitor, see the world of professional monster hunting like never before.

Introduction by Albert Lee

"Thistle" by Larry Correia

"Small Problems" by Jim Butcher

"Darkness Under the Mountain" by Mike Kupari

"A Knight of the Enchanted Forest" by Jessica Day George

"The Manticore Sanction" by John C. Wright

"The Dead Yard" by Maurice Broaddus

"The Bride" by Brad R. Torgersen

"She Bitch, Killer of Kits" by Faith Hunter

"Mr. Natural" by Jody Lynn Nye

"Sons of the Father" by Quincey J. Allen

"The Troll Factory" by Alex Shvartsman

"Keep Kaiju Weird" by Kim May

"The Gift" by Steve Diamond

"The Case of the Ghastly Spectre" by John Ringo

"Huffman Strikes Back" by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Julie Frost

"Hunter Born" by Sarah A. Hoyt

"Hitler's Dog" by Jonathan Maberry

Afterword

Biographies

• Monster Hunter Files (2018 Review)

• All of My “MHI” Reviews

Monster Hunter Siege (MHI #6) 4Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Monster Hunter Siege
Series: MHI #6
Author: Larry Correia
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 348
Words: 137K
Publish: 2017

A couple of books ago (Alpha) we were introduced to a character named Jason Lococo. He was a big ol’ brute who had a heart of gold and helped the boss of Monster Hunter International stop a werewolf invasion from taking over the United States. He got sucked into the Nightmare Dimension in Legion and was making the main character, Own Pitt, feel really guilty. So Owen sets off to rescue him and some other survivors. It snowballs into a massive multi-Hunter Company taskforce and they basically attack a Russian island with US military level power. Then Owen has to go through the gate to the Nightmare Dimension and save everyone. He has to fight off a High Hunt and he does so with Lococo’s help. He rescues the other guys and Lococo disappears. Only in the end to find out that Lococo was just a meat suit for a super demon named Asag who wants to destroy our world and that Asag needed a meat suit to get back to our dimension. Just like the Smoke Monster in LOST.

So this whole book was a longcon game by Asag, who was manipulating Owen the entire time. How cool is that?

All the fighting monsters was cool too. But I liked getting to the end and realizing that Owen, the Chosen One, was fooled like everyone else. I love this series but I don’t love Owen. Almost everybody else I enjoy reading about. But Owen, while I don’t hate him, I don’t actively enjoy him as a character at all. It’s too bad, since he IS the main character, hahahahaa.

Reading this MHI series months apart (as opposed to the years between initial releases) makes the overall big picture storyline much clearer. I can put pieces together now that I didn’t even realize were pieces back on my first read. I like that, a lot. It’s fun, it’s engaging and it is good writing. Also makes me realize that I could never BE a series writer. Not that I want to be an author mind you (I’d rather poke your eyes out than become an author), but knowing I don’t have that skillset is reassuring. No accidentally becoming an author for me! (crisis averted)

★★★★☆

From MHI.Fandom.com & Bookstooge

GO BIG OR GO HOME

When Monster Hunter International's top hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, was given a tip about some hunters who had gone missing in action, he didn’t realize their rescue mission would snowball into the single biggest operation in MHI's history. Their men are being held prisoner in a horrific nightmare dimension, and the only way to reach them is through the radioactive ruins of a monster-infested war zone.

As if that wasn't bad enough, it's also the home base of the powerful creature behind the devastating attacks on the Last Dragon and Copper Lake. It turns out ancient gods of chaos really hate trespassers. But this god picked a fight with the wrong crew, and now MHI wants payback. Calling on their allies, a massive expedition is formed, and with the odds stacked against them, a legion of hunters goes to war.

It's D-Day at the City of Monsters.

Pitt rescues the survivors and even makes it back himself, against all odds. But just like in LOST, Asag needed a dead meat suit to escape the Nightmare Dimension and now he’s in our world, free to cause chaos and destruction to his heart’s content.

• Monster Hunter Siege (2017 Review)

• All of My “MHI” Reviews

Blood Debt (Victor the Assassin #11) 4Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Blood Debt
Series: Victor the Assassin #11
Author: Tom Wood
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 328
Words: 98K
Publish: 2023

Victor is a consummate professional and I absolutely love that about these books. That aspect is brought into sharp focus near the end of the book when Victor is facing off against an assassin who fought him to a draw earlier in the book. The other assassin is just as good as Victor but when he gets the upper hand, he begins bragging about how he’s always wanted to test himself against Victor to prove that he was the better assassin. Victor uses this tiny distraction to kill the guy, because he’s not allowing his emotions to control him during this time.

Very. Slow. Clap.

I read the previous book, Traitor, almost a year and a half ago. I was wondering if there was going to be any friction with sliding back into this world but I needn’t have worried. Wood does an admirable job of bringing the reader up to date without spending more than a couple of paragraphs on the subject. In epic fantasy series, I appreciate a whole prologue bringing me up to date, as it may have been up to 5 years between books. But for a series like this where Wood has been banging out the books steadily since 2010, that is simply unnecessary. We get a quick reminder of why Victor is working for the Russian Mob Boss and then we move on. Quick, efficient and economical. Much like Victor himself in fact.

I gave this book the “Favorite” tag. I didn’t do that because I thought that this book was particularly stronger than any of the previous ones (although A Quiet Man was pretty pansified) but because at book 11, I am still loving this series, very much. Just like when I began bumping up my ratings for the Nero Wolfe books, it is time to acknowledge that I look forward to these books and thoroughly enjoy them. That’s what my ‘Favorite’ tag is all about, books that I enjoy the most. At some point I will be going through and re-reading the series and I hope it will live up to the test. Victor the Assassin has withstood many attacks over the years, so I have high hopes that he’ll survive Bookstooge too.

★★★★☆

From Bookstooge

Victor is working off his debt to a Russian mob boss. At the books start, he has just finished a job that gives him his freedom. On his way back to report everything, he interrupts an assassin who has killed the Russian. All the circumstances point to Victor being the assassin and the rest of the Mob Bosses give him three days to prove his innocence.

Victor tracks everything down. He survives multiple assassination attempts by various mob bosses, gets involved with MI6 (again) and has to clean that situation up. He figures out the assassination was contracted by the Mob Boss’s top henchwoman and gives the info to the Boatman, the Russian assassin tasked with keeping relative peace amongst the mob. The Boatman executes the guilty parties and Victor is once again on his own, flying free in the wind.

• All of My “Victor the Assassin” Reviews

Monster Hunter Nemesis (MHI #5) 4Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Monster Hunter Nemesis
Series: MHI #5
Author: Larry Correia
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 336
Words: 133K

I made the mistake of reading my review from 2014. Boy, everything I was going to say now, I said it a decade ago.

The only difference is that I gave a bit more weight to the theological side of things and thus removed yet another half star. God is presented as the Ruler of just our universe and just one amongst the multiverse, which while perfectly fine within Mormon theology goes directly against what the Bible says. Which is one more reason Mormonism is accounted a cult instead of just another denomination.

A good time reading and lots of fun. I think most people would just read this and enjoy it. I recommend you try that.

★★★★☆

From MHI.Fandom.com & Bookstooge

Agent Franks of the U.S. Monster Control Bureau is a man of many parts—parts from other people, that is. Franks is nearly seven feet tall and all muscle. He's nearly indestructible. Plus he’s animated by a powerful alchemical substance and inhabited by a super-intelligent spirit more ancient than humanity itself.

Good thing he’s on our side. More or less.

Sworn to serve and protect the United States of America from all monsters by one of the country’s founding fathers, Franks has only one condition to the agreement: no matter what the government learns of him, no matter what is discovered concerning his odd physiology or the alchemy behind the elixir that made him, the government is never, ever allowed to try and make more like him. Such is absolutely forbidden and should the powers-that-be do so, then the agreement is null and void.

Project Nemesis: in a secret location, using sophisticated technology and advanced genetic engineering, the director of the very agency Franks works for is making more like him. And the director is not content with making one. Nope, he’s making thirteen.

Now all bets are off, and Hell hath no fury like a monster betrayed. Particularly if that monster happens to be an undying killing machine capable of taking out vampires and werewolves with one hand tied behind his back.

Agent Franks is center stage in a Special Task Force Unicorn vendetta. Franks is on the run while he must clear his name, destroy a whole set of bodies based upon him AND prevent an invasion of the original fallen angels.

• Monster Hunter Nemesis (2014 Review)

• All of My “MHI” Reviews

Monster Hunter Legion (MHI #4) 5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Monster Hunter Legion
Series: MHI #4
Author: Larry Correia
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 361
Words: 139K

Aaaaaaand we’re back to Owen Z Pitt, sigh. I’d really prefer somebody else be the main character, but I know that isn’t the case for the series over all and so I just need to accept it. But I won’t, because that’s how I roll.

I sure have forgotten a LOT of this story in the last 12-13 years. I vaguely remembered it taking place in Las Vegas, Special Task Force Unicorn manipulating everyone and the dragon. This time around, the references that are made about Project Nemesis make total sense instead of being a big fat mystery like on my original read. I actually found knowing to make for a more enriching read. Which is yet another reason why RE-READING is so important!

Thankfully, there is enough gun toting action to keep any MHI fan happy. And we get real good look at STFU and just how despicable they are. They make for a wonderful bad guy/s and are just despicable enough that they make even the Government MCB (Monster Control Bureau) people look like angels. It’s awesome!

I just had fun reading this, even with “Z” being front and center. We also get a good look at other Monster Hunter companies and how they operate and under what parameters. We’ve only seen monster hunting through the lens of MHI and it’s good to reminded that while they are considered some of the best, they are not the only game in town. It helps us as readers not to get tunnel vision.

If you like big guns, good good guys and evil evil monsters, then this is the series for you. I recommend it without hesitation with those caveats.

★★★★★

From MHI.Fandom.com

When hunters from around the world gather in Las Vegas for a conference, a creature left over from a World War Two weapons experiment wakes up and goes on a rampage across the desert. A not-so-friendly wager between the rival companies turns into a race to see who can bag the mysterious creature first.

Only there is far more to this particular case than meets the eye, and as Hunters fall prey to their worst nightmares, Owen Zastava Pitt and the staff of Monster Hunter International have to stop an ancient god from turning Sin City into a literal hell on earth.

Plot

When the International Conference of Monster Hunting Professionals is targeted by a nightmare demon, MHI and the other hunters at the ICMHP conference must work together to protect the innocents trapped in the Last Dragon Casino while Owen Pitt takes on the Nachtmar.

• Monster Hunter Legion (2012 Review)

• All of My “MHI” Reviews